LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Absolutely gutted. That's the only way I can describe my feelings at the reports that the IRA has withdrawn its 'offer' to put its weapons beyond use. Northern Ireland has a deeply troubled past and a very complicated present, where identity and politics can pit neighbour against neighbour. There has been intransigence from both sides, politically best seen in the Democratic Unionist Party of Ian Paisley. There is hope, in that the IRA has broken off contacts on arms before, and progress is not off the agenda forever (although suspected IRA involvement in the UK's biggest ...

On 17 February Matthew Sweet will publish his Shepperton Babylon. It's a great title, promising a British equivalent of Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon. The Faber website describes it as: a history of home-grown movies that includes the scandals, the suicides, the immolations and the contract killings - the product of thousands of conversations with veteran film-makers.It's not just that this is a fascinating subject in itself, but Sweet is the author of one of the most remarkable history books I know: Inventing the Victorians.In it he argues that we have got the Victorians all wrong. They were not as, well, ...

The Guardian reports: The Liberal Democrats will today strike out against the government's plans for the house arrest of suspected terrorists by saying they will oppose the measure in the Lords, arguing that it requires derogation from the European convention on human rights.

Europhobia suggests that Robert Kilroy-Silk's new party may have made a poor choice of name. Not because everyone is calling them Vanitas, but because Veritas is a trademark of the Veritas software company.

It happens that while all this fuss has been made about the new Home Secretary's draconian new anti-terror laws, I have been reading a fabulous book about The Troubles. With all this talk about how we didn't need these measures during yearly IRA attacks on the British mainland and within the province itself, it is intriguing to note how unsuccessful internment was at halting and preventing IRA

I've just been alerted to the happy news that I'm in today's Guardian Backbencher. Last week, she asked for alternatives to the newly-announced EU referendum question ("Should the United Kingdom approve the treaty establishing a constitution for the European Union?"). I obliged... WHEN TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT Thanks to the countless readers who sent in their alternative questions for the

Rowan Atkinson delivered an excellent speech to members of the House of Lords last week, in opposition to the proposed law against incitement of religious hatred (which the government has bolted on to its Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill). Some extracts: "To criticise people for their race is manifestly irrational but to criticise their religion, that is a right. That is a freedom. The

At least I am getting to the bottom of the reasons why the City Council spends so much money on getting simple things done. It all comes down to being governed by budgets rather than value for money. Hence we end up spending the budget rather than checking what we are paying for is value for money. One of the key changes has to be to get a concentration on unit costs as part of value for

Apparently our representative (MP) on the election monitoring team refused to wear a flak jacket - apparently he insinuated that these were for wimps and he needed to be able to move freely if he was to get himself out of trouble. We were trying to establish whether he was brave or mad...

Decided that I would go along to the statement on incapacity benefit and try and ask a question. Snag is that not everyone who wants to ask will be lucky but the chances of success are greater if you have been bobbing up and down on previous occasions (this indicates that you want to speak) without success. Unfortunately there were also a couple of questions I was keen to put to Hilary Benn

With today came the sad news that Ivan Noble has died after battling cancer for a few years. A lot of people read his online diary detailing his experiences on the BBC Web site and it seems to have helped a lot of people going through similar experiences. His last entry was posted on Sunday, and many people have left tributes. Somtimes it is only through reading about people who have to cope with so much that we realise that most problems we may think we have are actually very minor indeed.

Yes, it is Groundhog Day! And Phil is predicting that we will have six more weeks of winter. I won't be going to Pennsylvania anytime soon then.

Meanwhile David Davies was on good form with his own use of the English language: David Davies: Your last manifesto said that all primary school children would receive a free school breakfast. Did you cost that manifesto commitment? Will you implement it? Will we see pupils with egg on their plates or Ministers with egg on their faces?

A lot of people dismiss the Assembly Plenary sessions as just a lot of politicians spouting hot air, and sometimes they are right. However, these meetings are an opportunity for genuine scrutiny and can often generate light as well as heat. This can be seen in the record of proceedings, but only if you read between the lines. A good example of this was the exchange at First Minister's questions yesterday on the crisis facing accident and emergency services in Cardiff. Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader, Mike German, was on his feet demanding a report on Rhodri Morgan's visit ...

Its Wednesday, and the eve of poll in the battle for Redcliffe Bay. Elections are funny things, no matter how much work you do and no matter how many doors you knock on, you never quite know how things are going to go. The question you always get asked is: who's winning? And the honest answer is: I'm sorry, I haven't a clue! When I first became politically active aged 16 (after seeing a

Looks like Kilroy really can't stand not being the leader of the gang. He is to launch his own new party Veritas today. I can't say I wish him luck as I think he has shown himself to be rude and unconstructive everytime I've seen him on the political stage. This must however end UKIPs hope of even a single MP at the next election. Something about 'playing with fire' comes to mind...

I didn't pass judgment on whether Damian Hockney should stand down from the London Assembly when I wrote about his defection. However, UKIPwatch relays a good case, if true, for him to stand aside:A UKIP spokesman said that in 2003, Mr Hockney had proposed a motion, passed by the party's National Executive Committee, requiring any successful UKIP election candidate who later left the party to

Today is healthy living day in the Welsh Assembly. Nobody is quite sure who designated it thus or what authority they had to organise it. Nevertheless, we have all been bombarded with e-mails, leaflets and posters heralding the advent of this ground-breaking event. All of the meeting rooms have apparently been booked all-day, a feat that in itself is worthy of note. AMs, their staff and civil servants can avail themselves of diabetes testing and support, blood pressure checks and advice, smoking cessation advice and tests, lung function testing and advice (presumably this is akin to the old New ...

What a complicated thing buying a house is. Helen and I had a meeting with our solicitor to try and finalise the purchase of our home. Assuming everything goes according to plan we should be moving in around a fortnight to Bowburn. Bowburn is an old colliery village (the house is on old Coal Authority land) and is (thankfully) one of the more affordable areas around Durham City, but despite both having full-time jobs and no dependents, the house will be on the edge of affordability for us. Quite how people with children to pay for or ...